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The Department of Immigration and Border Protection referred questions to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, but his spokeswoman said it was a long-standing policy that the government did not comment on operational matters.

Two years ago, a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers in a wooden boat came near a floating LNG production and storage vessel off Dampier.

Mr Barnett also expressed concern about that incident at the time, saying he understood the boat had been tied up to the floating platform. But Customs denied this, saying the asylum seekers had only waved at workers on the vessel.